Eddy Merckx says Chris Froome must ride the Giro

Eddy Merckx says that Chris Froome should ride the Giro d’Italia in 2018 if he wants to confirm his status as a true champion

“The Cannibal” won the Giro and the Tour in 1972 and then won the Vuelta the following year.

"Froome would do well to come to the Giro next year. In fact, being a champion, he has to come, even if he has a fifth Tour win in mind,” Merckx told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"And if Dumoulin is there too, it will be a beautiful duel. I don’t know who would win.”

“For a rider like Froome, I say it is possible. He showed it this year with the Tour-Vuelta double,”said Merckx.

“He has the mentality and the motivation to achieve the feat – or at least to try it.”

RCS Sport is especially keen for Chris Froome who rides for Team Sky to return to the Giro for the first time since he was disqualified for holding onto a police motorbike on the Mortirolo in 2010. Froome has made a remarkable metamorphosis in the years since, winning the Tour de France four times and claiming the Vuelta a España in September.

Riding the 2018 Giro would give him the opportunity to emulate Bernard Hinault (1982-83) and Eddy Merckx (1972-73) by holding all three Grand Tour titles at the same time.

However, Froome has already stated that winning a fifth Tour de France is his priority in 2018, although rumours suggest that he was giving serious consideration to riding the Giro.

The full route of the 2018 Giro d'Italia is unveiled this Wednesday 29th November in Milan.

The full route of the 2018 Giro d'Italia is unveiled this Wednesday 29th November in Milan. The presentation of Giro d’Italia 2018 will be on 29th November starting from 5 p.m. CET.

The route of the 101st edition, starting on 4 May 2018 from Israel, will be unveiled in the presence of the last Giro d’Italia winner, Tom Dumoulin, the two times Giro winner Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Aru (third in 2014 and second in 2015), and Alberto Contador (winner of the Corsa Rosa in 2008 and 2015), as well as representatives of the teams, sponsors, media and other institutions.